1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the treatment in an ophthalmologic field, more particularly, to ophthalmic pharmaceutical compositions for treating and/or preventing the ophthalmologic clinical symptoms and signs in Sjögren syndrome.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sjögren syndrome is one of the frequently diagnosed diseases and is often found particularly in older ages. It is estimated that patients with such a syndrome will increase in number more and more as coming into the aging society. As characteristic features, Sjögren syndrome is accompanied by the invasion of lymphocytes into the lacrimal gland and the salivary gland, and the disruption of adenocytes, and is characterized mainly by dry eye and dry mouth. Sjögren syndrome is a cryptogenic disease or the like and is highly speculated as an autoimmune disease, and the criterion has been already established. The ophthalmologic clinical symptoms of Sjögren syndrome are, for example, foreign body sensation, burning, and itching. Treatments for Sjögren syndrome now used predominantly are symptomatic therapies such as the application of artificial tears and the wear of goggles and glasses for preventing dry eye. When the symptoms of patients with these treatments are not improved, they are then treated mainly with other symptomatic therapies such as surgeries and the administration of steroids and immunosuppressants in combination, which may restrict patient's normal social life because these therapies would require hospitalization, doctor's advice, or therapeutic devices. Conventional ophthalmic solutions used generally in the ophthalmologic field are easily portable and readily usable when in use, and therefore ophthalmic solutions, containing sodium hyaluronate for treating the ophthalmologic clinical symptoms and signs in Sjögren syndrome, have been commercialized recently, however, any satisfactory ophthalmic pharmaceutical composition for treating and/or preventing the syndrome has not been provided yet.